Miami Dolphins Talking Points: Rookies hold their own on defense

With nine different starters on defense as compared to last year’s opener, the Dolphins had to have a number of new faces make positive impacts for first-year defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s scheme to work Sunday. That’s where we start our Wednesday talking points:

1. OLB Koa Misi and DE Jared Odrick didn’t look out of place in their NFL debuts.

Misi was only a 50-50 bet to start at strongside linebacker until Ikaika Alama-Francis came down ill Sunday morning, but he finished with four tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits.

Odrick, who reportedly will miss six weeks with a broken fibula suffered in the second half of Sunday’s game, had one tackle for a loss but played a key role in limiting Buffalo to 50 rushing yards and keeping QB Trent Edwards off balance all day.

Coach Tony Sparano said Monday he liked what he saw out of both players, even though their inexperience is likely to have a negative impact at times.

“They just do it at a million miles an hour,” he said. “It’s a helluva quality to have in a defensive player. But we’ve got to get them to do it right in the framework of what we’re asking them to do. Then we’ll really be onto something.”

One question going forward is how much either will play in the near future. Odrick’s status is likely to be better defined by Sparano today, while Misi figures to share time with Alama-Francis once he recovers from his illness.

2. Minnesota presents a tougher challenge at every skill position than Buffalo did.

Starting with quarterback Brett Favre and moving along through his backs and receivers, it’s difficult to find any area on offense in which the Vikings aren’t superior to the Bills.

And while the Dolphins held the Bills to 10 points and 166 total yards, that’s no barometer as to how the Vikings will fare. Not when they have one of the league’s top rushers in Adrian Peterson, the reigning Rookie of the Year in Percy Harvin, a solid tight end in Visanthe Shiancoe and a host of other weapons.

That means the Dolphin defense will likely be on the spot to play better, but it also means the offense has to be more efficient.

The Vikings have several motivating factors: they lost their opener at New Orleans, this game comprises their home opener, and Favre figures to be in his final season, so there will be no wait-til-next-year acceptance of defeat. The Vikes will be hungry and present a huge challenge.

3. Punter Brandon Fields is emerging as an important part of special teams.

We’ve talked in the past about watching Fields drop one punt after another inside the 10 during practice, and he couldn’t have done it better — or at a bigger time — than in the waning minutes Sunday, when his next-to-last punt was downed at the Buffalo 1 by Jason Allen.

Three incomplete passes later, Buffalo was purposely snapping the punt out of its end zone for a safety and, as it turned out, handing the Dolphins a victory.

Fields also earned the praise of Sparano for his last punt, on which he used a one-step approach before sending his kick into the end zone. At that point, the only thing that could have hurt Miami was having it blocked, and Fields understood that perfectly.

Fields had an excellent preseason and has the potential to be one of the better punters in the AFC this year.